Wednesday, December 5, 2012

WIP Wednesday Guest Hosted by Elizabeth of OPQuilt

Hurry! Hurryhurryhurryhurry!

I'm Elizabeth of OccasionalPiece-Quilt (also known as OPQuilt.com) and as a long-time reader of Lee's blog, I'm honored and happy to be guest hosting today.

But what's the hurry? It's December, and that means Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, birthdays, holiday parties, holiday decorating and if you don't have your lights up the day after Thanksgiving, the little elf in your ear (not that Elf of the Shelf, but by the way did you remember to move him last night?) is whispering not sweet nothings, but lists and lists of tasks for you to complete all by that magical night. And pretty soon your life begins to be a blur, kind of like an Instagram hashtag, with everything mushed together.

So just for a moment, take a breath. You've arrived at Lee's fabulous blog, where we're all working hard to create lovely quilts. Stop careening through the holidays just long enough to linger—as that's really the only way to slow down time, to have a bit of stillness before you remember that you wanted to hit Target, take the returns to Kohl's, pickupcandycanesatthegrocerystoreand ... whoa. Stop. First, just take a few minutes to see the quilts linked up below. And while you're at it, leave some fellow quilters a little note of encouragement and some holiday cheer.

I don't know about your elf, but my elf's been making lists and lists, so I'm here to talk about some of those things I'm working on as part of WIP Wednesday. (That whispering dude is positively manic over here.)

I have two of these. For some reason, I just can't get excited about Christmas sewing until later in the year. I need to work on that. (Note to self. No, note to ELF.) I found that set of snowman blocks (above) in the bottom of this bin. What could I do with those old blocks?

This array calls out to be to be a quilt. Can't decide. Back in the box (I've been doing this for a couple of years.)

I bought all of Sweetwater's Countdown to Christmas line last year, but for a variety of reasons, never got to it, in spite of having terrific directions from Moda's Bake Shop. This is the year, I say.

So I cut and lay out the stars, arranging them on my pin wall to sew together, right after I mail the Christmas cards.

This wonky wintery quilt really needs to be taken out of its box and put together. I can stitch on them right after I bake persimmon bread with the basket full of persimmons from my neighbor's tree that I could then wrap up for the mail lady, the grandmother across the street who is raising two grandkids. (See? I can't help myself either!)

A stop at my LQS provided some encouragement--the snowflakes will be a great backing.

In spite of all that Christmas fabric you saw earlier, I did finish a Christmas quilt for the bed a couple of years ago, and this weekend saw me cut out and start sewing the pillow shams. In the background is Cindy of Live a Colorful Life, because she came and stayed the weekend that we had our quilt group's holiday party. It was fun to get started on the holiday sewing with friends all around the table!

I finished up the shams last night and here they are on the bed. I blew up the 12-inch block design to 20 inches so as to make it fit the dimensions.

And a some favorite Christmas finishes from the past. This is my Log
Cabin Advent Calendar, which I taught for a class a while back, and
have made several times. More info is available on my blog, so stop by to download the free instructions.

Little holiday-themed buttons are hung on the tree, attached by loops of ribbon.

Remember that without all of us happy quilters, December would just be one more month in the calendar. Whatever holiday celebrations you have planned, whatever magic you are busy making, I hope for you some quiet moments in this season of joy.

Now it's your turn—let's see your WIPs! Here are the rules:
1. Link up any post from the past week that features at least one unfinished work-in-progress (WIP).
2. Somewhere in your post, you must link back here to my blog. (Or grab my WIP Wednesday button for your sidebar.)
3. Comment on at least a few of the other WIP Wednesday links. Because what fun is a linky party without comments?

Good grief, you can keep that elf over there, I'm perfectly calm thank you! Although I totally know about the procrastination over that christmas fabric. Oh well, Christmas will roll around again next year...

Wow, so many great ideas and tips! I love these linking parties because I always either find a new friend, find help for a project, new ideas, or learn something new! I just finished piecing together a quilt, but now I'm trying to decide how to best quilt it... any suggestions?? Help! I'm at adaisygarden.com, look for Quilt on a Budget post.

Elizabeth, great to find you here today! I enjoyed this post...it felt like you were walking me through your sewing room and house - too fun! That quilt on your bed is beautiful and I like what the little pillow says. ;-D

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